Friday, July 30, 2010

Today started the consumer show. Crazy craft people came from all over the country to this thing! There was a hall full of booths, some selling product, some doing free projects. It was packed and I think if you are a crafter, it would be much like heaven.

In our booth we made these button bouquets. They are pins. The crafters loved them.

We had piles of buttons of for people to choose.

Oh, the concentration!

Oh the cuties!

Recently, I revamped the history of the Blumenthal Lansing Company. It was kind of weird rewriting what they had without actually changing history. Guess it turned out OK, because they printed it out and hung it in the booth!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

I spent the day making button rings with about 225 of my closest craft friends. Well, I just met them, but I liked them all. It was the easiest, fastest and coolest project on the show floor.

And once someone made one, she wanted to sit all day and make them. Some women would have made 5 or 6 if I had not cut them off. The buttons are fab. I don't blame them. Kind of.

And not one glue gun burn all day!

The best story of the day is that I had an interested sales rep from the company who learned how to make the rings, learned how to teach to make the rings, and then stood with me most of the day helping women at the table. He was young and cute and Dutch. The women flocked in. His English was really good, but once in awhile, he would ask me a word.

He asked what to call the thing we put the buttons on. I said "string." He asked me maybe 4 times and gave me a weird look each time. Finally he told me that string is a kind of underwear for women. Yeah, G string here is just string there, apparently. No wonder he could not tell anyone about the string!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hey from Chicago and the summer CHA (Craft and Hobby Assn) show! Had a great day and am leaving a quick post because my eyes are slamming shut. This is my cute little hotel room, it feels a bit European in flavor and size. The bathroom is so small, the toilet has to be on an angle in the corner to fit in the room.

I walked the show, pretty quickly....the show is very small and not busy. It is mainly a papercrafting show which is not my fav craft, but I still saw some beautiful work, and got a feel for some trending.

I would like you to see what a $3 bottle of water looks like. I tried not to think of the case of 24 bottles just like this that I recently bought for $3. Convention center robbery, what can you do?

I think the tutu is enjoying a trend upward. I keep seeing tulle tutus everyplace. Very girly and visually interesting.

Oh, these fabric flowers are all over the show floor. They are made out of any kind of thin, soft fabric. Some booths had really lovely jewelry made using them. I am labeling this trendy too.

I just liked this and want it for Girl World.

More tomorrow. I am working a make it take it in the button booth, making the cooolest button rings with whoever happens by.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Thank you very much for viewing my necklaces. Any sales made from this post will go to my mission trip to Germany. Go to the Divine Design: The Hangar blog for more info and to follow our process.

Since these are all one-of-a-kind pieces, they will be sold on a first come first served basis. To purchase, leave me a comment at the end of the post telling me which item you would like. Make sure I have your email. We will discuss payment and shipping at that time.

The round pendants are $30. They are a little over an inch in width. Each have a circle of rhinestones around the glass nuggets, and are on silk cords. You will see bits of silver glitter in some of them. They each have a bead charm at the bottom as well as a small bead charm at the top.

The teardrop pendants are $15 and are also on silk cords. They are about an inch and a half tall and have three bead charms.

The silk cords are 40" in length. You can tie your necklace at any length, or wrap it around your wrist. The wrist thing is kind of trendy, try it!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

You have seen these right? Silly bands. These belong to niece 3. They are the latest thing. As you can see, kids collect them by the dozens.

Every time I see them, I laugh. A couple of years ago, my team made a presentation to the company I worked for at the time regarding silly bands. We had a source, they were cheap, looked like fun, why not? We were looking for dollar items to sell to Michaels. They seemed perfect to us. The marketing department, with a huge lack of vision, said they were useless and could not figure out why anybody would want them. HOOT! That company is now out of business.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Finished up my button jewelry for my friends the button girls. I don't work much with wood, being a glass artist, but it was fun to do something with these wood buttons. I like the roughness of the distressed wood combined with the shiny beads.

I made four of these buttons, two in each color and stitched them to a jacket. They are only decorative, but I really like the 3D-ness of them. I think they would invite comments when worn.

Monday, July 5, 2010

I am working on some projects for Michaels, using some new buttons from Blumenthal Lansing. I am doing some jewelry, but made this purse this afternoon as an addition. This was made out of black felt. Super simple construction, but kind of cute. And really inexpensive.

Really like the big button, it is sort of distressed. I like getting to play with the new stuff before it goes into the stores, like a sneak preview!

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I am just a normal girl who lives in Michigan, is always busy and goes lots of places. I have entertaining friends and lots to think about. Come hang out with me in Girl World where life is one big funny mess.